Hozumi Hasegawa scored an impressive 4th round TKO over Alvaro Perez in Japan. It was Hasegawa's 5th consecutive knockout victory in 4 rounds or less. Hasegawa has dominated the bantamweight division and may be looking to move up to 122 lbs. or 126 lbs. for his next bout. If he does so, Hasegawa would vacate his WBC title that he has successfully defended ten times.
In the first round, Hasegawa connected with two solid lefts to Perez's body. Perez landed a clean right hook to the head, but Hasegawa took the punch well. Perez fired and landed a straight left over the right jab of Hasegawa. Then, Hasegawa came forward aggressively, unleashing straight lefts off his right jab.
In round two, both fighters started fast and were firing quick jabs. Hasegawa landed a hard left to the body. Perez countered with a right hook-straight left combination. Next, Perez landed a flush left hand. Hasegawa retaliated with a furious attack. He landed vicious lefts to the body and head of Perez with a minute to go in the round. Hasegawa momentarily stunned Perez with a sharp left to the head. As the round was about to end, Perez landed an overhand left. After that, Perez threw a right hook and Hasegawa fell down, but the referee ruled it a slip.
In the third round, Perez connected with a right hook and charged forward, but Hasegawa nailed him with a straight left. Hasegawa hit Perez with another left off his right jab that pushed him back. Perez got close again, but Hasegawa hit him with a fast left uppercut. Toward the end of the round, Perez missed with a right hook and Hasegawa made him pay for it by landing a big overhand left.
Finally, in the fourth round, Hasegawa closed the show. A minute into the round, Hasegawa struck Perez with a right hook to the head. Then, Perez fired a left to the body. Hasegawa countered with his own left to the body. With 30 seconds to go in the round, Hasegawa landed three punishing lefts in succession that left Perez face down on the canvas.
Hasegawa improves his record to 28-2, 12 KO's. Hasegawa just turned 29 years old. In 2005, he won the WBC Bantamweight title from Veeraphol Sahaprom with a 12 round unanimous decision. Alvaro Perez falls to 18-2-1, 12 KO's.
